Daniel mcfarlan moore



(No Model.)

D. MOP. MOORE. MAGNETIC CIRCUIT BREAKER.

No. 593,230. Patented Nov. 9,1897.

Fig.2.

UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

DANIEL MCFARLAN MOORE, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE MOOREELECTRICAL COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MAGNETIC-CIRCUIT BREAKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 593,230, dated November9, 1897.

Application filed time 24. 1896.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DANIEL MOFARLAN MOORE, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State ofNew Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Magnetic-CircuitBreaker, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in circuit breakers orinterrupters, and particularly to thoseoperating in vacuo, as set forthin patents previously granted to me. In such interrupters I have eitherdepended upon a spring to return the contacts to engagement, as inPatent No. 547,127, dated October 15, 1895, or upon a rotarycircuit-breaker, also shown in said patent. The former construction hasso far proven more satisfactory than the other. The main difliculty'metwith in its use, however, resides in the change in tension andconsequent change in amplitude of vibration in the spring-contact, whichis due to the wearing back of the stationary contactpoint. Thisdifliculty is increased on account of the impracticab-ility of adjustingsaid point in receivers of such high vacuum as those in which theseinterrupters operate. This change in amplitude of vibration not onlychanges the frequency of the circuit interruptions, and consequently thedesired ratios between the several factors of my lighting system, but itimpairs the electrical contact-between the parts of the interrupter. Toovercome these difficulties, I have constructed an interrupter in whichthe vibrating part or tongue is located in a magnetic field in suchposition with relation to the lines of force that it is in stableequilibrium or, as may be said, in magnetic equipoise, so that it willimmediately return to this position when moved aside by any meanswhatever. The tongue thus located is of magnetic material and ispreferably moved from the normal position by a magnet acting laterallythereon, and which has its circuit controlled in a manner such as tointermittently and rapidly move the tongue from its position ofequilibrium, the magnetic field acting to restore it to said position.The tongue may, therefore, be said to be or to have a magnetic spring.

With the above objects and purpose in view Serial no; 596,679. (Nomodel.)

- my invention consists in a circuit breaker or interrupter, consistingof a tongue-contact normally in stable equilibrium in a magnetic field,and means for automatically moving it from said position to make andbreak circuit with a cooperating contact.

The invention further consists in a vibrator-' tongue freely mounted inan exhausted receiver and located in a position of magnetic equipoise,and magnetic means for intermittently and repeatedly moving it from saidposition.

The invention further consists in the construction, combination, andarrangement of parts hereinafter fully described,and set forth in theclaims. 1 Y

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents one way of carrying out the invention. Fig. 2represents another way in which the same -may be carried out.

I have illustrated the invention in connec tion with my particularsystem of lighting, although it is obviously adapted to many otherpurposes in which the contacts of the circuit.-

breaker may or may not be inclosed in an exhausted receiver.

In the drawings, A. indicates an exhausted receiver, which may be madefrom glass or any other material which will sustain a high vacuum. o 3

13 represents the vibrating part or tongue of the circuit breaker orinterrupter whichconstitutes or carries the movable contact.

0 indicates the fixed contact. The points of engagement between thetongue and the fixed contact are generally faced or provided withplatinum, iridium, or some similar enduringmaterial.

The tongue B consists of some magnetic material and is secured orsuitably mounted at one end to or upon a piece of conducting material,towhich one end of the circuit through the interrupter may be connected,

the other end being connected to the end of; the strip carrying contact0, which strip pro trudes through the wall of the receiver. The mannerof supporting the tongue upon the contact-strip D may be g'reatlyvaried,

and in Fig. 1 said tongue is shown simply as' balanced upon said strip,while in Fig. 2 it 1s shown as connected to an eye formed in the end ofthe strip D.

The circuit-breaker thus formed is located in a magnetic field in suchposition that the tongue shall rest in magnetic equipoise or maintain insaid field a position of stable equilibrium.

In Fig. 1 the interrupter is shown as secured between the lateral facesof the poles of the horseshoe-magnet E, as by placing cementpr any othersuitable securing means between its ends and the magnet. vIt may also beadjustably secured in place by any suitable non-magnetic material.

In Fig. 2 the receiver is located between the ends of thehorseshoe-magnet E. These magnets may be simple electromagnets energizedby means of coils F, or they may be permanent magnets and the coils Fused to intensify them and keep them at saturation.

To interrupt the engagement betweeen contacts B and C any suitable meansmay be employed, particularly when said contacts are supported in theopen air, but when they are supported within an exhausted receiver, asillustrated, the best means .for moving the tongue B is anelectromagnet, as indicated at G. This may be so located as either torepel or attract the tongue B.

In Fig. 1 magnet G is intended when energized to repel the-tongue B andbreak the circuit between it and the contacts 0, said tongue returningto contact 0 by virtue of its magnetic equipoise as soon as G isdemagnetized. By locating magnet G in the circuit II through thevibrator, which'cir'cuit' maybe supplied with current from any suitablesource, as indicated at I, it will be demagnetized immediately upon thetongue being repelledthereby, and again magnetized upon the return ofthe tongue to equilibrium.

In the form just described the tongue is so located as normally toengage the-contact C and is, as stated, repelled by the magnet G whenthe latter is energized. Obviously the magnet G may be so located as toattract the tongue B instead of repelling it. Such an arrangement isillustrated in Fig. 2. Also, to insure a be ter contact between thetongue and the contact C the upper end of the tongue may be pressedslightly out of equilibrium, as indicated in Fig.. 2, where the dottedline a: 00 indicates the line of magnetic equilibrium.

In carrying out the application of this circuit-breaker to my lightingsystem I have indicated at J J the connection of tubes or lamps to thecircuit. In some cases it may be advisable to regulate the field offorce in which the tongue is located, and for this purpose I provide theplate-K, mounted adjustably upon the screw-threaded rod L, which passesthrough or is suitably mounted upon the magnet E, so that the plate Kmay be moved to or from the interrupter.

Other arrangements of the magnet G; than those shown ,and also otherforms of the tongue B and its cooperating contact, also other forms ofthe receiver A, may be made and used without departing from myinvention, the gist of which resides in utilizing the magnetic equipoiseof a plate or bar of magnetic material as the movable element of acircuit-breaker, and thereby overcoming the disadvantages above setforth resulting from the use of a spring for returning said tongue tocontact position. The tendency to hold the tongue in magneticequilibrium and to return it when displaced gives it the same effect asthough it were moved by a spring outside the magnetic field. Thereforethe tongue when in magnetic equipoise may be considered a magneticspring, and the simplest means for moving it from the position of stableequilibrium is the additional magnet, as illustrated and described.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. A circuit-breaker having a tongue orvibratingpart in magnetic equipoise,and means for intermittently movingit from equipoise for the purpose set forth.

2,, A circuit-breaker consisting of a fixed con'tact, the latter beingnormally in stable equilibrium in av magnetic field, and means forintermittently moving it from said field for the purpose set forth.

3. A circuit-breaker consisting of a vibrating'tongue' engagingwit h afixed contact and both inclosed in an exhausted receiver, the tonguebeing located in stable equilibrium in a magnetic field, and means forintermittently moving the tongue out of equilibrium, as and for thepurpose specified.

4. In a circuit-breaker, the combination with a magnet, of a vibratingtongue placed in equipoise in the field of said magnet, an exhaustedreceiver inclosing said tongue and its cooperating contact, andmeans'for magnetically moving said tongue from the position of equipoisefor the purpose setforth.

5. The combination with a magnet, of a vibrating circuit-interrupter in'vacuo so located that the vibrating tongue is normally in stableequilibrium in the field of the magnet, and a magnet for disturbing thisequilibrium, substantially as set forth. v 7 I Signed at New York, inthe county of New York and State of New York, this 22d day of June, A.D. 1896. q I

DANIEL MGFARLAN MOORE.

Witnesses:

WM. H. OAPEL, D. H. DECKER.

